Films on many topics, like history, music, contemporary problems, ecology, made by Greek filmmakers, were screened these days in Thessaloniki. This variety was accompanied by a diversity of aesthetic and visionary ideas, which indicate the style of contemporary Greek filmmakers.
The FIPRESCI list films were:
They Tell Me Not To Love You – The Songs of Smyrna-Constantinople by Yorgos C. Zervas. The Greek songs of Smyrna (Izmir) and Constantinople (Istanbul), the people, the places, the history in a film of memory and passion.
Men at Sea by Katerina Patroni. A film about the life of sailors through a trip on a cargo ship between Europe and Korea.
The Sponge Diver’s Dance by Vassilis Vassiliadis. The film explores the sponge divers of Kalymnos island and their means of survival.
Myrsini by Olga Marangou. A documentary about the life of disabilities and life at a halfway house.
Refugee Greece by Vangelis Serdaris. An historical documentary about the evacuation of the Greeks from Asia Minor, based on many narrations.
Andreas Embirikos by Tassos Psarras. This film speaks about the major Greek surrealist poet, author, psychoanalyst and photographer. The documentary is based on rich visual material.
HIV Positive – Living With AIDS by Dimitris Vernikos. Five HIV positive mothers, living in the townships around Cape Town, speak about their children and their trust in life.
Breath of the Earth by Panos Karkanevatos. A journey through the popular rituals in Greece, a film based on image and sound.
Routes of Rebetiko by Tomon Koulmasis and Iro Siaflaki. The songs of rebetiko, the parallel routes of history, the people in a film full of music.
The Way to the West by Kyriakos Katzourakis. A combination of documentary and fiction, a contemporary film about immigration and the migrating routes.
Et in Arcadia Ego by Alexandros Papailiou. A journey through history in the mythical land of Arcadia, a journey of memory and self-knowledge.
The choice of the FIPRESCI jury was for the film “The Way to the West” by Kyriakos Katzourakis, for its treatment of a contemporary problem: the uprooting of people and its innovative integration of fiction and the poetic point of view of the main character.
© FIPRESCI 2003